I know very little about this record, other than the fact that it was produced by modern-day soul favorite Tommy Stewart, who experienced something of a career resurgence with the Luv’n’Haight label’s reissue of his self-titled debut from 1976. This album is absolutely bizarre, from its title and concept right down to the music itself, which falls loosely into the blaxploitation genre of funk, yet betrays explicitly Southern-sounding origins that give it a harder edge than other music of its ilk. The producers and musicians forego Shaft-style string arrangements for greasy harmonica and organ breaks, and the vocals reveal more of a small-group vibe than many of the larger sessions emanating from this particular time period. The band even delivers an “answer song” to Curtis Mayfield’s landmark single “Freddie’s Dead,” appropriately titled “Freddie’s Alive And Well.” Other cuts like “Messin’ Around” and “Vine Street” stretch out into dramatically extended improvisational territories, with the guitarist on the former coming straight outta the Grant Green school of soloing, all choked notes and funky, modal minimalism. The album on the whole has a very effective, calculated flow, which makes sense considering this was designed as a soundtrack piece. The interesting thing, however, is that I’m not sure the movie this music is supposedly based upon was ever made. If you google “Burning of Atlanta film”, the only things that come up are a slew of “Gone With The Wind” references, and while all sources say that this LP was indeed intended as the soundtrack for a movie, the movie itself remains a mystery. If anyone out there has additional information on the subject, please let me know, ‘cause I’m incredibly curious to see what crazy-ass film featured this amazing music as its backdrop.
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